America: The Cremator

Elena's figure drew a sharp arc in the air before her feet touched the slippery ground. Her knees bent slightly to absorb the enormous impact, and she landed steadily back beside her team.

The light from the lantern at her waist dimmed, returning to its previous soft brightness.

At the same time, a short static sound came from the walkie-talkie hanging on the shoulder strap of her tactical vest.

"This is the headquarters command center. 'Black Chess' team, report your situation."

Elena reached out and pressed the call button, replying, "Headquarters, this is 'Black Chess.' We encountered a D-rank slime and a C-rank slime aggregate formed from it. The target has been eliminated, the team suffered no casualties, and we are preparing to continue deeper."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie, as if they were processing information, before new instructions came through.

"Received. The teams at the other eleven entrances have all encountered similar C-rank slime aggregates, and their operations are temporarily hampered."

"Based on energy response analysis, the strange readings in the core area of ​​the sewers are continuously rising. We suspect that these aggregates are merely outer defensive units, designed to buy time for something in the core area."

"That thing is likely undergoing some kind of incubation or evolution."

Elena's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"What are headquarters' next plans?"

"The 'Black Chess' team will be the main attacking force, continuing to advance towards the core area. The other teams will be responsible for containing the aggregates in their respective areas. Your mission is to ascertain the situation in the core area and report back immediately once you obtain crucial intelligence."

"be safe."

"Black understands."

After Elena ended the call, she turned around and looked past everyone, her gaze landing on the pile of gelatinous corpses that had completely lost their vitality.

"Suron, take care of it. The rest of you, advance immediately."

After she finished speaking, she walked into the depths of the sewer without looking back, with two special task force members following closely behind without the slightest delay.

Hannah glanced at the pile of stinking corpses, then at Suron, her face filled with worry.

"Su, do you need me to stay and help you?"

Su Long shook his head, his voice coming from behind the gas mask: "No need. You catch up with the main force. There's no danger behind us for now. I'll catch up with you by following the marks you left after I'm done dealing with this."

This time, Elena left decisively, without even lingering to observe Sulong's actions as she had done before. The urgent situation clearly left her no time to be distracted.

This gave Su Long a great deal of convenience.

He watched as the figures disappeared around the next corner, the tactical spotlights completely blocked by the wall, and the entire space was once again shrouded in darkness and silence.

Only then did Su Long turn around and face the pile of corpses made of flesh and slime alone.

He walked closer and examined the pile of things carefully.

It was a large, translucent, jelly-like mass containing numerous eyeballs, teeth, and white bone fragments, which presented an extremely disturbing appearance under the spotlight.

Sulong knew the cause of these things.

To prevent pipe blockages and bacterial growth, the Seattle municipal government regularly injects high-concentration alkaline solutions into the sewer system. Animal and even human carcasses that are not disposed of in time and are flushed into the sewers will have most of their protein structures saponified into this transparent gel-like substance under the corrosive effect of the strong alkali.

Structures that are difficult to corrode, such as eyeballs, teeth, and bones, are preserved and eventually mix with the gelatin to form the horrifying scene before us.

Su Long examined the cone-shaped pile of corpses in front of him, which was as tall as a person. Judging from its size, if it were all converted into human corpses, it would contain the remains of at least twenty people.

To avoid Elena noticing anything unusual about the fuel consumption, Sulong aimed the nozzle at the gushing black sewage beside him, then turned on the valve, spraying a large amount of specially made cremation oil directly into the rushing water, letting it be carried downstream.

After estimating that he had used up enough fuel to incinerate the pile of corpses, Su Long stopped and walked to the transparent mass. He raised his right hand, and a cluster of pure golden flame quietly ignited at his fingertips.

He gently placed the tiny flame on the surface of the gelatinous substance.

In an instant, golden flames, as if possessing a living being, spread wildly along the surface of the pile of corpses, quickly engulfing the entire massive cone-shaped pile.

There was no thick smoke, no pungent burning smell, only pure light and heat.

The filthy substance, a mixture of protein, bone, and strange power, melted and decomposed rapidly under the scorching heat of the primordial fire, like ice and snow exposed to the blazing sun. It eventually turned into a handful of fine, white dust, which scattered on the ground and was swept away by the flowing sewage.

A line of light blue writing appeared clearly on Su Long's retina.

[Burning the pile of fused corpses grants 11 experience points!]

Eleven experience point orbs.

Looking at the number, Su Long felt a surge of excitement he hadn't felt in a long time.

This is much more generous than the pitiful 0.3 points before.

Without hesitation, he summoned his attribute panel and focused his mind directly on the area of ​​the keyword list.

【Prometheus☆】

【Fear and Intimidation☆】

【The Gift of Blood Rain (Fragmented)】

【Beset by illness★】

【The hatred of rain and water ★★】

Since unlocking the "Entry Star Upgrade" feature, Su Long has been looking forward to it with great anticipation.

However, due to a lack of experience points, he was never able to personally experience the changes brought about by this new feature.

Now that he had finally accumulated enough experience to upgrade his star level, he didn't hesitate and focused his consciousness directly on the entry that represented the source of all his abilities.

【Prometheus☆】

"Upgrade to Star Level".

With a thought, ten of the eleven experience point orbs surrounding the panel instantly transformed into golden streams of light, all flowing into the line of characters 【Prometheus☆】.

The pale blue characters shimmered intensely under the infusion of golden light. Next to the original white star, the outline of a second star gradually solidified and took shape, finally radiating a dazzling light.

The text on the panel then refreshed.

【Prometheus☆☆】

Category: Blessing.

Description: The coverage and extension range of the Primal Flame have been increased; the Primal Flame can now disguise itself as a normal flame; the burning damage of flames against the uncanny has been increased; when directly burning the uncanny, the blessing effect gained is enhanced, while the curse effect gained is weakened.

Comment: The spark of the world is in your hands!

Su Long read the upgraded entry description word by word, and his mood became pleasant.

He raised his right hand and tried again to summon the primordial fire.

This time, the golden flames were no longer confined to his palm, but spread upwards instantly, completely covering his entire palm and half of his forearm.

The shape of the flames also became more solid and controllable.

He could even feel that he could manipulate these flames to detach from his skin and extend outwards by about twenty centimeters, forming a scorching barrier made of pure energy.

The Primal Fire, as one of his few effective means of attack against the bizarre, represents a significant upgrade in all aspects.

What excited him even more was the last item in the introduction.

"When directly burning the supernatural, the blessing effect is enhanced, while the curse effect is weakened."

Previously, when he directly burned the Smiling Mother, he received a broken blessing entry and a curse entry with a level two rating.

With this effect, if a similar situation occurs again, is it possible that the result will be either a complete one-star blessing or a one-star curse?

If that's the case, it will undoubtedly greatly accelerate his accumulation of strength and his escape from the predicament.

Just as Su Long was carefully analyzing the changes brought about by the improvement of the entry, Elena's voice suddenly came from the walkie-talkie hanging on his chest.

"Sulong, are you done cleaning up?"

"Catch up immediately when you're done. We've left glow sticks along the way as markers, so you need to catch up as fast as you can."

Su Long calmed himself, dispelled the golden flames covering his arm, and pressed the call button.

"I'll be right there."